It's November, and that means it's time to complete a series and add to my body of knowledge as a film lover. Somewhere down the road, this will probably mean watching every Police Academy movie. God help me at that point. But for now, there are still a half dozen series I've somehow passed by that I want to check out, and all the hubbub about Man of Steel earlier this year made me bump Superman to the top of my list. After all, shouldn't I too have an opinion about a so-called "General Zod" and whether or not Superman would have destroyed buildings or some such? Yes, I should.

I decided to start at the beginning, which is reputed to be a very good place to start.

Superman (1978) ***

With the John Williams score coursing through my head (and becoming interchangeable with the Star Wars theme) I will report that the first Superman was a worthy watch. In fact, I had a very good time watching it. I loved the first half, which established an epic scope for the story that was very welcome. Dig those widescreen wheat fields. Then when the story shifted to Metropolis it took on a light, nicely comic feel that worked very well.

I did have some problems with the second half though. Part of it is that effects-driven sequences don't age nearly as well as rooftop banter, but part of it is that the movie doesn't really have a strong villain (Hackman's Luther seems much more henchman-like), Ned Beatty is really, really annoying, and the movie just kinda stops with not much resolved. Though I read that's because of Superman II.

Still and all, a good start to my yearly series. I hope Superman II is more of the same

_________________The temptation is to like what you should like--not what you do like... another temptation is to come up with an interesting reason for liking it that may not actually be the reason you like it.

Have you seen trhe Ricahred Donner cut of Superman 2.I would say that Supermant Returns works better as a sequel to this as opposed to the Richard Lester version.My favourate Super man moment is still the end of the superman2 when superman returns tothe restaurant although,

Have you seen trhe Ricahred Donner cut of Superman 2.I would say that Supermant Returns works better as a sequel to this as opposed to the Richard Lester version.My favourate Super man moment is still the end of the superman2 when superman returns tothe restaurant although,

if superman has turned back time, therefore never loosing his powers or hooking up with Lois lane then the origional diner scene never happened either.

I never liked Donner's cut of Superman 2. Because truth be told, Donner and Lester are of roughly the same caliber. Many of Lester's scenes are very strong, and Superman 2 simply doesn't work without them.

Fri Nov 15, 2013 6:40 am

Ken

Director

Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:26 pmPosts: 1728

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

Lester's visual approach was significantly inferior, though part of the problem was that Stuart Baird left when Donner was fired and Geoffrey Unsworth had departed to that great screening room in the sky.

_________________The temptation is to like what you should like--not what you do like... another temptation is to come up with an interesting reason for liking it that may not actually be the reason you like it.

Fri Nov 15, 2013 6:50 am

JamesKunz

Critic

Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:35 amPosts: 6010Location: Easton, MD

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

Ken wrote:

Lester's visual approach was significantly inferior, though part of the problem was that Stuart Baird left when Donner was fired and Geoffrey Unsworth had departed to that great screening room in the sky.

Well I'm a big believer in, barring extreme circumstances (though these may well qualify) watch the version that audiences saw when it was released. So I almost always go for the non director's cut.

_________________I'm lithe and fierce as a tiger

Fri Nov 15, 2013 7:25 am

KWRoss

Director

Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 2:37 amPosts: 1210Location: Laurel, MD

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

JamesKunz wrote:

Ken wrote:

Lester's visual approach was significantly inferior, though part of the problem was that Stuart Baird left when Donner was fired and Geoffrey Unsworth had departed to that great screening room in the sky.

Well I'm a big believer in, barring extreme circumstances (though these may well qualify) watch the version that audiences saw when it was released. So I almost always go for the non director's cut.

Well I'm a big believer in, barring extreme circumstances (though these may well qualify) watch the version that audiences saw when it was released. So I almost always go for the non director's cut.

If you're open to suggestions, I would say watch them both--but do it in release order. The Donner Cut isn't really a director's cut, so much as a mock-up/workprint that was assembled from scraps using 2000s-era technology. It's a glimpse into what Superman II might have been, as opposed to the "intended" version of the movie that director's cuts usually purport to be. It's hard to recommend it as a completed movie, but it is an indispensable piece of movie archeology.

_________________The temptation is to like what you should like--not what you do like... another temptation is to come up with an interesting reason for liking it that may not actually be the reason you like it.

Fri Nov 15, 2013 4:06 pm

JamesKunz

Critic

Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:35 amPosts: 6010Location: Easton, MD

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

KWRoss wrote:

JamesKunz wrote:

Ken wrote:

Lester's visual approach was significantly inferior, though part of the problem was that Stuart Baird left when Donner was fired and Geoffrey Unsworth had departed to that great screening room in the sky.

Well I'm a big believer in, barring extreme circumstances (though these may well qualify) watch the version that audiences saw when it was released. So I almost always go for the non director's cut.

Does Blade Runner fall under that "extreme circumstances" category?

Yeah it would. When I legitimately feel that the director (who is a legitimate creative presence) intended X version to be the true version of the movie, then I will watch said director's cut. If you had never seen Aliens, for instance, I would show you the extended cut because Cameron is quite clear that it's his vision of how the film is supposed to be.

I find myself (which is unusual to be sure) agreeing with you Vexer (I have seen all the Superman films with the exception of IV).

IV was fun in a hilariously-silly sort of way, it did actually have a good idea for a plot, and it wasn't overrun with embarassing and amateurish comedy like III was(Richard Pryor and the junkyard scene were about the only good thing about III).

Sun Nov 17, 2013 11:59 pm

MGamesCook

Director

Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:44 pmPosts: 1845

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

Slightly off-topic (though in a way, not really), but is Man of Steel the loudest movie ever made? I think it really might be; at least the most consistently loud. It's kinda bothering me because my speaker set is not that powerful (under $100) and try as I might I cannot turn the bluray down to a level that isn't painfully loud. It's either loud as f*** or it's mute. I guess it's partly because we live in an age where everything has to be amped up, and Steel is one of the few blurays which has been released with 7.1 channel audio. This movie in that format makes Transformers and War of the Worlds sound like lullabies. In future I may just have to watch the DVD. But then, I suppose it's also just the movie

Mon Nov 18, 2013 12:35 am

Vexer

Auteur

Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 12:02 pmPosts: 3654Location: Zion, IL

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

MGamesCook wrote:

Slightly off-topic (though in a way, not really), but is Man of Steel the loudest movie ever made? I think it really might be; at least the most consistently loud. It's kinda bothering me because my speaker set is not that powerful (under $100) and try as I might I cannot turn the bluray down to a level that isn't painfully loud. It's either loud as f*** or it's mute. I guess it's partly because we live in an age where everything has to be amped up, and Steel is one of the few blurays which has been released with 7.1 channel audio. This movie in that format makes Transformers and War of the Worlds sound like lullabies. In future I may just have to watch the DVD. But then, I suppose it's also just the movie

I find that to be a problem with most Blu-Rays in general, it's hard to find a reasonable volume between deafening and almost mute, DVDs seem to have a much better balance.

Mon Nov 18, 2013 12:54 am

Ken

Director

Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2012 6:26 pmPosts: 1728

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

Usually, when audio sounds too loud no matter how low it's set, it's the result of excessive compression. There's an overall consistency of perceived loudness that is taxing to the ear and might even be pushed to the point of distortion. You get this a lot in modern popular music recordings--the so-called loudness war.

Aside from the freeze-dried computery digital sound of Zimmer's score, I don't remember compression being an issue in the theatrical presentation, so maybe they botched the transfer to Blu-ray.

_________________The temptation is to like what you should like--not what you do like... another temptation is to come up with an interesting reason for liking it that may not actually be the reason you like it.

Mon Nov 18, 2013 2:12 am

MGamesCook

Director

Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 7:44 pmPosts: 1845

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

Ken wrote:

Usually, when audio sounds too loud no matter how low it's set, it's the result of excessive compression. There's an overall consistency of perceived loudness that is taxing to the ear and might even be pushed to the point of distortion. You get this a lot in modern popular music recordings--the so-called loudness war.

Aside from the freeze-dried computery digital sound of Zimmer's score, I don't remember compression being an issue in the theatrical presentation, so maybe they botched the transfer to Blu-ray.

It's part of the 7-channel experiment. I'm playing 7-channel audio through 5 channel speakers, so that would be where the compression is coming from I guess. This was also a problem with the War Horse bluray, which was also a 7-channel release. Man that trench battle is loud. Might have to stick to the dvd for those.

Mon Nov 18, 2013 7:33 am

roastbeef_ajus

Second Unit Director

Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:07 pmPosts: 313

Re: Get Ken on the horn...it's time to watch every Superman

MGamesCook wrote:

Ken wrote:

Usually, when audio sounds too loud no matter how low it's set, it's the result of excessive compression. There's an overall consistency of perceived loudness that is taxing to the ear and might even be pushed to the point of distortion. You get this a lot in modern popular music recordings--the so-called loudness war.

Aside from the freeze-dried computery digital sound of Zimmer's score, I don't remember compression being an issue in the theatrical presentation, so maybe they botched the transfer to Blu-ray.

It's part of the 7-channel experiment. I'm playing 7-channel audio through 5 channel speakers, so that would be where the compression is coming from I guess. This was also a problem with the War Horse bluray, which was also a 7-channel release. Man that trench battle is loud. Might have to stick to the dvd for those.

It also has to do with how the sound gets to your speakers through your receiver/processor. HDMI, digital toslink, or PCM.

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